SASSUOLO AND MODENA
ARE THE EPICENTER OF CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN EUROPE. MANY ARAB PEOPLE FROM
NORTHERN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST ARE WORKING IN THESE GIGANTIC CERAMIC
FACTORIES AS "EXTRACOMMUNITARI" - PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITY - ALSO REFERED TO AS "ISLAMISTI" - ISLAMISTS.

I WAS INVITED
BY CLAUDIA ZANFI AND MARCO SCOTINI FOR THIS EXHIBITION/EVENT: GOING PUBLIC
ORGANIZED IN CONJUNCTIONWITH THE CITY OF SASSUOLO.

MANY THANKS
GO TO ALL THE ARABIC PARTICIPANTS FROM TUNESIA, MAROCCO, AND PALESTINA,
MOSTLY CERAMIC WORKERS WORKING AND LIVING UNDER RATHER HARD CONDITIONS
IN SASSUOLO. THANKS ALSO TO MY GREAT ASSISTANTS: SIYAM MOHSEN FROM PALESTINA,
NOW LIVING NEAR SASSUOLO AND SILVANO RUTIGLIANO FROM SASSUOLO.

SPECIAL THANKS
ALSO TO FABRIZIO ZANFI WITH HIS TILE FACTORY VIVA
PROVIDING GENEROUSLY US WITH THEIR FINE MATERIALS AND TO DARIO BRUGIONI
AND HIS FORME
2000 WHO LET US USE HIS MAGIC CERAMIC HIGHWAY OVENS AS WELL
AS HIS GENEROUS ASSISTANCE WITH COLORS, LOGISTICS AND SPACE.

concept:

My concept for this body of works
consists in the exchange of ideas and opinions about the crisis in Iraq
and the Middle East with Arab workers here in Sassuolo. I try to create
a dialog platform to express other people�s thinking and feelings about
politics as well as about their personal and collective history. Dominant
and typical U.S.news material concerning the Arab world were presented
to participants first. I asked them, to respond in Arabic. With their
agreement the results have been painted on ceramic tiles.

Tiles are often used in public places
in the Arab world. They are indefinitely durable and don't fade though
at the same time, they are very fragile and can be easily broken. They
also are the site of early writings. They are similar to stones and carry
as such meaning in the current Middle East conflict.

Some of the graphic elements were
painted by me, others were painted by my assistants Sylvano and Siyam.
You will recognize the difference quickly since I do not have any training
or experience in brush practices.

Each person participating in the dialog
is asked to give his/her own response, opinion and position seeing these
media fragments usually associated with US-news reporting. Encouraging
my partners to express themselves freely in regards to politics and its
relationship to powerful media interfaces is the main part of my conceptual
goal.

These news elements seem to be selling,
branding, justifying, authenticating and even cheerleading news content
and in this case a varity of conflicts that very strongly devides internatinal
public opinions and the current US goverment under George.W Bush.

Therefore, I am interested in recontextualizing
this tv-material differently, using it in relationship with people who
are directly affected by these confrontations asking them to "write
back."

All the sentences written in Arabic
are entirely conceived by my dialog partners and don't show any input
by me!

In now way did I try to influence
or censor these responses. They are entirely their views and statements.

I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY MY DIALOG PARTNERS ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY SHARED
BY ME. I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT MY DIALOG PARTNERS EXPRESS.

THIS WORK IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A
PLATTFORM FOR ANTI-AMERICANISM OR ANTI-SEMITISM BUT FOR DIALOG AND OPPOSING
VIEWS EXPRESSED BY PEOPLE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT IT.

for publication: some
images have hi resolution images attached: just click image and a 3.2
mb image is available.

All the photos have been made with explicite
permission of the participants. Given the very stressful situation for
Arabs at the current moment of history there is a big level of distrust
and paranoia which let many people decide NO on photos and full identifications.
Almost everybody expressed his/her concerns about negative consequences
and joke were flying about "going to prison" for their writing
or their suspicion of whether I am working for the CIA or MOSSAD etc.
etc.

Adil Assouss is a ceramic worker in Sassuolo and is from Casablanca,
Morocco.

This young man is from Tunesia. I don' t want
to identify him, since he advocates war against the USA. We did not use
this sentence because we don't want to incite hatred or violence. We used
the image otherwise and Siyam Moshen wrote another response. see next
page: Siyam also refused to transcribe his text.